Influence of a Municipal Solid Waste Landfill on the Surrounding Environment: Landfill Vegetation as a Potential Risk of Allergenic Pollen

Abstract

When the landfill use comes to end, important subsequent steps include aftercare, safety assurance, and ecological regeneration. Landfill revegetation is cost-effective and eco-friendly approach in the management of landfill areas, which serves the purpose of stabilization and provides a pleasant landscape. There are various vegetation types that can be planted, yet grass species are often used for low-cost reasons. Plants can be important sources of air pollution, particularly by grass pollen. The main goal of our study was to identify plant species that produce allergenic pollen. Long-term vegetation monitoring took place on three sites in the growing seasons of years 2008–2018. Studied objects were landfills located in the Czech Republic. The vegetation was assessed using a floristic survey of identified plant species. Plant species that produced allergens were recorded. During the monitoring, 298 plant species were determined. Plant species with allergenic pollen have a considerable share in the landfill vegetation. Thus, landfills are potential sources of various kinds of allergenic pollen. Moreover, our results indicated that there are three periods of pollen production: early spring, late spring, and early summer; late summer; and autumn. The second period is typical for the production of highly allergenic pollen by grasses. Most detected plant species with allergenic pollen are common for all monitored sites, which demonstrates that the vegetation of landfills is a significant source of allergenic pollen.

Variability in expression profiles of Betulaceae spring pollen allergens in Central Europe region

“…Aeroallergens of plants can be derived from pollen of conifers and flowering plants, seeds, leaf and stem detrutus and protein molecules. Different source of allergenic pollen was reported previously and loacally, the number of plant species that exhibit the occurrence of pollen can reach a high numbers (Vaverková et al 2019). The most important allergen outdoor air carriers are pollen from anemophilic plants such as trees, grasses and weeds (Behrendt and Becker 2001).…”

Why landfill deposits are a distinguishing feature of the Anthropocene

“…Soil degradation linked to landfills is often reflected in the vegetation composition of landfill surfaces (Mao et al, 2018). Landfill sites can contain diverse plant species that are atypical of native vegetation and are characterized by synanthropic flora—non-domesticated species that prosper living in association with humans (Bryant et al, 2017; Koda et al, 2013; Vaverková et al, 2019). According to a study by Wania et al (2006), Vaverková et al (2019) and Winkler et al (2021), the anthropogenic conditions of landfills favor the development of new plant communities composed mainly of neophytes and invasive plant species (Vaverková et al, 2018).…”

Environmental geotechnics: challenges and opportunities in the post-Covid-19 world

“…Incineration is the most technically and economically feasible option, which is applicable to all types of MW, with significant quantity reduction (Deng et al, 2014;Steen and Su-Ling, 2015;Makarichi et al, 2018). This method has been widely applied in developed countries and will be the mainstream method to deal with MW in developing countries in the future (Fang et (Vaverkova et al, 2019). In many countries it has been decided that the waste company should determine the method or place to store, collect, and dispose of such waste, at the same time taking measures to minimize the risk to workers who manage waste, but also to other citizens.…”